Tables with direct memory access descriptor lists for distributed direct memory access

ABSTRACT

A distributed direct memory access (DMA) method, apparatus, and system is provided within a system on chip (SOC). DMA controller units are distributed to various functional modules desiring direct memory access. The functional modules interface to a systems bus over which the direct memory access occurs. A global buffer memory, to which the direct memory access is desired, is coupled to the system bus. Bus arbitrators are utilized to arbitrate which functional modules have access to the system bus to perform the direct memory access. Once a functional module is selected by the bus arbitrator to have access to the system bus, it can establish a DMA routine with the global buffer memory.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This United States (U.S.) non-provisional patent application claims thebenefit of U.S. provisional Patent Application No. 60/231,421 entitled“METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DISTRIBUTED DIRECT MEMORY ACCESS FOR SYSTEMSON CHIP”, filed Sep. 8, 2000 by Ganapathy et al, both of which are to beassigned to Intel Corporation.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to direct memory access controllers.More particularly, the invention relates to direct memory access for asystem on chip.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Within a computer system there are generally three methods of datatransfer between main memory or the registers of a central processingunit (CPU) and input/output (I/O) devices over a system bus. These threemethods are programmed I/O, interrupt driven I/O, and direct memoryaccess (DMA). With programmed I/O and interrupt driven I/O, the CPU isresponsible for obtaining data from main memory for transfer to the I/Odevices and for obtaining data from the I/O devices for transfer to mainmemory over the system bus. Thus, the programmed I/O and interruptdriven I/O requires the direct involvement of the CPU which ties it upmanaging the data transfer so that it can not otherwise perform othermore important functions.

Direct memory access (DMA) was introduced which required a centralizedDMA controller to alleviate the CPU involvement in data transfer.Centralized DMA control is well known. The centralized DMA controlleressentially took over the role of transferring data over the system busbetween main memory and I/O devices. In DMA accesses, the CPUinvolvement was reduced to the initial setting up of the DMA transferand the clean up at the completion of the DMA transfer. While the actualDMA data transfer was being controlled by the DMA controller, the CPUcould perform other computations or functions. As a result, DMA datatransfer were more efficient than either programmed I/O or interruptdriven I/O methods. In order to avoid collisions on the system bus, theDMA control was centralized into a centralized DMA controller. Thecentralized DMA controller performed arbitration of the system bus tothe attached I/O devices allowing only one at a time to be transferringdata between it and the main memory. Furthermore, when multiple I/Odevices desired to perform a DMA access simultaneously, the centralizedDMA controller had to perform some prioritization method. As a result,the control logic of the centralized DMA controller can be rathercomplicated which can lead to a rather large block size for thecircuitry of a centralized DMA controller.

Improved semiconductor manufacturing techniques have been shrinking thefeature sizes in integrated circuits, such as transistor channellengths. The smaller transistors have allowed more complicatedintegrated circuit chips to be constructed such that functional systemscan now be formed within a single integrated circuit chip and producesatisfactory yields. These functional systems, which are substantiallycomplete systems, are oftentimes referred to as a system on chip (SOC).In an SOC, there may be many functional blocks that require transferringdata to or from a memory. Additionally, it is oftentimes desirable whenconstructing an SOC, to make it flexible so that the number offunctional blocks can be expanded to handle more data and/or add othertypes of functional blocks. As the number of functional blocks increasesthe potential arbitration problems in an SOC. A disadvantage to usingcentralized DMA controller in this case is that the control logic mayneed to be redesigned to provide for the expansion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system on a chip of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram of a voice over packet (VOP) systemon a chip of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an instance of a core processor including acore direct memory access (DMA) controller illustrated in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary memory map diagram of the global buffer memoryincluding DMA data having beginning and ending DMA address locations anda DMA descriptor table describing the DMA data stored in the globalbuffer memory.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a serial DMA controller of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6A is an exemplary serial data stream of frames of data transmittedor received through the multichannel serial port of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6B is an exemplary ramapping of frames of data for the multichannelserial port performed by the TDM remapper memory of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a core DMA controller of FIG. 2.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a host DMA controller of FIG. 2.

Like reference numbers and designations in the drawings indicate likeelements providing similar functionality. A letter after a referencedesignator number represents an instance of an element having thereference designator number.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In the following detailed description of the present invention, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the present invention. However, it will be obvious toone skilled in the art that the present invention may be practicedwithout these specific details. In other instances well known methods,procedures, components, and circuits have not been described in detailso as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the present invention.

A distributed direct memory access (DMA) method, apparatus, and systemis provided within a system on chip (SOC). DMA controller units aredistributed to functional modules which desire direct memory access witha global buffer memory. The DMA controller units arbitrated whichfunctional block has access to the global buffer memory. The functionalmodules interface to a system bus over which the direct memory accessoccurs. The global buffer memory, to which the direct memory access isdesired, is coupled to the system bus. Bus arbitrators are utilized toarbitrate which functional modules have access to the system bus toperform the direct memory access. Once a functional module is selectedby the bus arbitrator to have access to the system bus, it can establisha DMA routine with the global buffer memory.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a block diagram of a system on a chip (SOC) isillustrated. The system on a chip (SOC) 100 in one embodiment is a voiceover packet (VOP) system including a multichannel full duplex serialport to interface to a telephone network over one connection and anotherport to interface to a packet network through another connection. Thetelephone network in one embodiment is a PSTN telephone network having aTDM serial data stream.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a detailed block diagram of the voice overpacket system on a chip (VOP SOC) 100 is illustrated. The voice overpacket system on a chip 100 has a central system bus 200 coupled to aglobal buffer memory 210. The system bus 200 is a standardized systembus which includes conductive traces or wires for address signals, datasignals and control signals. The address lines are used by the bus toperform DMA transfers. The bus multiplexes a number of DMA transactionsconcurrently, and only deals with one transaction at a time. So it needsa set of address lines for that transfer (read or write). The addressand data lines are distinct. The bus width of the system bus 200 for thedata signals has a data system bus width (DSBW) of sixty four bits inone embodiment. A sixty four bit wide data system bus width facilitateshigh bandwidth data transfers. Access to the central system bus 200 byfunction modules of the system on a chip 100 is arbitrated by busarbitrators 201A-201N coupled to the system bus 200 using a uniformprogrammable arbitration protocol. The standardized system bus 200 andthe uniform arbitration protocol supplied by the bus arbitrators201A-201N simplifies arbitration of the system bus 200. In order to gainaccess to the global buffer memory 210, the functional modules of thesystem on a chip 100 must first gain access to the system bus 200through bus arbitrators 201A-201N. A round-robin arbitration scheme onthe system bus 200 assures that each of the distributed DMA mastercontrollers 203A-203N, 207 and 215 have access every so often to thesystem bus 200 and can access the global memory 210 at that time.

All code, data and state information for the VOP SOC 100 is stored intoand read from the global buffer memory 210 which acts as a centraldepository. Thus, data bandwidth is important and it is desirable toefficiently transfer information into and out of the global buffermemory 210 over the system bus 200 using a distributed direct memoryaccess (DMA) system of the present invention. While the bus arbitratorsarbitrate access to the system bus, the distributed DMA systemarbitrates access to the global buffer memory 210. The global memory 210is a slave to the distributed DMA master controllers in the system onchip 100 and includes a slave DMA interface. The global buffer memory210 responds to the DMA transfer requests over the system bus 200initiated by the distributed DMA controllers. The distributed DMA systemallows the functional modules to generate their own addresses for theglobal buffer memory and avoids instructions from constantly being sentevery cycle to access large blocks of data. A register is set up duringa DMA that allows addresses to be automatically generated and multipledata blocks or bytes to be accessed in sequence. The functional modulesof the system on a chip 100 desiring direct memory access to the globalbuffer memory 210 include, one or more core signal processors 202A-202N,a multi-channel full duplex serial port 206 to interface to a telephonenetwork, and a host port 214 to interface to a host and a packetnetwork. The global buffer memory 210 of the SOC 100 is directly coupledto the central system bus 200.

The modules of the system on a chip 100 desiring direct memory access tothe global buffer memory 210 have their own direct memory access (DMA)controllers but for the micro controller 223. The microcontroller 223couples to the system bus 200 through a bus interface 224 and a busarbitrator 201C. The microcontroller 223 acts as a system or executivemanager orchestrating the scheduling of tasks and flow of data from theserial port 206 and the host port 214. It does not require a DMAcontroller, but does generate cache line misses for instruction and datathat are routed to the global memory 210. The microcontroller has a datacache 227 and an instruction cache 228 associated with it that cause thegeneration of the cache line misses. The microcontroller sets up DMAdescriptors and instructs the individual functional units of the SOC 100to perform the DMA transfers. The bus arbitrator 201C and the businterface 224 talk to each other for the microcontroller to gain accessto the system bus. The microcontroller 223 provides job control andorchestrates the data transfers into and out of the global buffer memory210 acting like a data traffic cop. The microcontroller 223 sets up aDMA by writing a DMA descriptor list into the global buffer memoryregarding the DMA data transfer. It then communicates to the functionalunit to perform the DMA of the data by pointing to the starting addressof the DMA descriptor list. The functional unit then reads the DMAdescriptor list and performs the DMA of the data. The DMA descriptorlist includes a starting address for the data and the number of bytes tobe transferred. The DMA descriptor list includes other information whichis described in greater detail below. The one or more core processors202A-202N can also form DMA descriptors in the global memory 210especially for core DMA transfers in addition to the microcontroller223. As an example, the microcontroller 223 sets up a DMA with one ofthe core processors 202A-202N in order to process a frame or block ofdata for a given communication channel. It communicates with the onecore processor the starting address of the descriptor list in the globalbuffer memory. The one core processor reads through each line in thedescriptor list and performs the DMA of the data from the global buffermemory into the core processor's local memory.

The multi-channel serial port 206 interfaces to multiple full duplextime division multiplexed (TDM) telecommunication channels in order forthe VOP SOC 100 to support multiple communications channels. Themulti-channel serial port 206 acts as a receiver and transmitter foreach of multiple communications channels which is on the order of 512channels. Data received from the telephone network is stored by themulti-channel serial port 206 into the global buffer memory 210 forprocessing by the core processors 202A-202N. Data to be transmitted ontothe telephone network after processing by the core processors 202A-202N,is retrieved by the multi-channel serial port 206 from the global buffermemory 210. To access the global buffer memory directly, themulti-channel serial port 206 includes a serial DMA controller 207 thatcouples to bus arbitrator 201A.

The host port 214 couples to a host to receive external data upon powerup and set up information regarding the communication channels which itwill process. Additionally, the host port 214 couples to a packetnetwork to transceive packet payloads of data in full duplex formultiple communication channels. Data received from the packet networkis stored by the host port 214 into the global buffer memory 210 forprocessing by the core processors 202A-202N. Data to be transmitted ontothe packet network after processing by the core processors 202A-202N, isretrieved by the host port 214 from the global buffer memory 210. Thepacket payloads transceived by the host port 214 are packetized prior totransmission over the packet network and are depacketized after beingreceived from the packet network into the packet payload data receivedthrough the host port. Alternatively, a packetizer and depacketizer canbe included in the VOP SOC 100 to directly interface to a packetnetwork.

In one embodiment, the host port 214 also implements the protocols of anIntel I960 compatible host port. The host port 214 couples to a hostsuch an Intel I960 host processor in order to receive externalinformation because the global buffer memory 210 is internal to thesystem on a chip 100. The host provides information through the hostport 214 regarding a boot up sequence during boot up of the SOC 100 aswell as channel set up information regarding the communication channelsthe SOC 100 is to support and any other external information a userneeds to load into the SOC 100. The host port 214 in one embodimentincludes a thirty two bit wide parallel data port. That is, the packetpayload data and other information can flow from an external source intoand out of the host port using a thirty two bit data word width. Thehost port 214 converts 32 bit data on the external bus into 64 bit datafor transmission over the system bus 200 and 64 bit data from the systembus 200 into 32 bit data for transmission out the host port.

The core processors 202A-202N process the received TDM signals from thetelephone network and can generate TDM signals in response forcommunication back over the telephone network or they can generatepacket payloads for communication over the packet network. Packetpayloads received from the packet network are processed by the coreprocessors 202A-202N into packet payloads for transmission back over thepacket network or into TDM data for communication over the telephonenetwork. In any case, the data that needs processing is stored into theglobal buffer memory 210 first. The one or more core processors202A-202N then retrieve the data for the given channel for processing.After processing is finished on the data by the one or more coreprocessors 202A-202N it is stored into the global buffer memory 210. Toaccess the global buffer memory directly, the one or more coreprocessors 202A-202N include one or more core DMA controllers 203A-203Nto DMA the data into their local memory. The code associated with thefunctional processing of the channel and the state information for priorprocessing of the channel and its data samples is also stored in theglobal buffer memory 210 and DMA transferred into the local memory(program memory and data memory) of the one of the one or more coreprocessors that will process the new data samples.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a block diagram of a core processor 202 isillustrated. The core processor 202 illustrated in FIG. 3 represents oneinstance of the one or more core processors 202A-202N in FIG. 2. Thecore processor 202 includes a core DMA controller 203, a digital signalprocessor (DSP) 300, the data memory 302, and a program memory 304coupled together as shown in FIG. 3. Memory locations in the data memory302 and the program memory 304 can be allocated into dual channels forprocessing two communication channels. Allocating memory locations intotwo channels in this fashion is sometimes referred to as a doublebuffered memory scheme. That is the data memory 302 can be viewed assplit over two channels, a channel one data memory 302A and a channeltwo data memory 302B. Similarly the program memory 304 can be viewed assplit into two channels, a channel one program memory 304A and a channeltwo program memory 304B. The channel one program memory 304A correspondsto the channel one data memory 302A. The channel two program memory 304Bcorresponds to the channel two data memory 302B.

The core DMA controller 203 and the DSP 300 ping-pong between which ofthe memory channels each are accessing. The core DMA controller 203writes data or code into the memory locations of the data memory andprogram memory corresponding to the channel that is not being processed.While one channel of memory locations is being processed by the DSP 300,the other channel of memory locations is being read out or updated byDMA. For example, the DSP 300 processes the data in channel one 302A ofthe data memory 302 using the code stored in channel one 304A of theprogram memory 304B. While the DSP 300 is processing channel one, thecore DMA controller 203 is updating channel two 302B of the programmemory 304B to process a next channel. The core DMA controller 203 mayalso read out data from channel two after processing is completed andthen update channel two 302B with new data for processing the nextchannel. The core DMA controller 203 transfers code and data between theglobal buffer memory 210 and the data memory 302 and program memory 304using direct memory access.

The transfer of data between the data memory 302 and the core DMAcontroller 203 is by means of opportunistic reads and writes. That is atevery opportunity, data is being transferred between a data memory 302of the one or more core processors 200A-200N and the core DMA controller203. If a processor is not using either port of the dual-ported datamemory 302, data can be written into either port or read from eitherport. Whenever a free memory location(s) is available to write data intoa bank that is being processed, the DMA process can write into the freememory location(s). After a memory location contains data that hascompleted processing, the DMA process can read from the memorylocation(s) in the data memory 302 when available. The core processors200A-200N have a higher priority to access the memory banks, and the DMAcontroller cycle steals to get access to the data memory foropportunistic reads and writes. Similarly, the transfer of code betweenthe program memory 304 and the global buffer memory 210 is by means ofopportunistic reads and writes.

The instructions for DMA transfer between a data memory 302 and theglobal buffer memory 210 include start, stop, continue, suspend, andresume. There are DMA descriptor registers in the DMA controllers 203.One or more of these instructions can be written into the DMA descriptorregisters while the DMA is in progress and can cause the appropriateaction to be performed. A DMA transfer can also be stopped by a userusing the stop command or the suspend command. After a DMA transfer isstopped, it can be continued by using the continue instruction. Afterstopping or suspending, a user may start another DMA transfer process.After suspending, a suspended DMA transfer can be resumed using theresume command. Upon reaching completion of the DMA process, aninterrupt signal is coupled back to indicated to the host, themicrocontroller, or core processor (DSP) to check the status of the DMAcontroller.

The bit width of the words of data stored into either channel of thedata memory 302 matches that of the data system bus width (DSBW) of thesystem bus 200. It is desirable that the bit width of the words of codestored into either channel of the program memory 304 matches that of theinstruction width of the DSP 300. In one embodiment, the width of wordsof data stored into either channel of the data memory 302 is sixty fourbits wide while the width of words of program code stored into theeither channel of the program memory 304 is forty bits wide. Thus, thecore DMA controller 203 also converts (i.e. selectively packs) 64 bitsof program code received from the global buffer memory 210 into fortybit word widths. The DMA controller presents 40-bits at a time to theDSP. The FIFO included in the core DMA controller 203 performs the64-to-40 bit conversions. Every five words of sixty four bits (a totalof 320 bits) of code read from the global buffer memory 210 is convertedinto eight words of forty bits (a total of 320 bits) of code. That isthe bits are packed into a word which is the least common denominatorbetween the data system bus width and the word width of the programmemory 304.

Each of the distributed DMA controllers provide a source address to theglobal buffer memory when reading and a destination address to theglobal buffer memory when writing. The core DMA controller 203 alsogenerates a destination address for the data memory 302 and programmemory 304 when writing thereto or a source address when readingtherefrom. The program memory 304 is 40-bit addressable having anaddress word that can be 40-bits wide. The data memory 302 is 64 bitaddressable having an address word into memory that can be 64-bits wide.Thus, the core DMA controller 203 provides both source and destinationaddress when performing DMA transfers between the global buffer memory210 and the data memory 302 or program memory 304.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a block diagram of an exemplary memory map forthe global buffer memory 210 is illustrated. A word or block of data isstored into and read out from the global buffer memory having a sizethat matches the data system bus width (DSBW). In one embodiment, thedata system bus width and the width of data words into addressablememory locations in the global buffer memory is sixty four bits. Thatis, when an address is provided to the global buffer memory, sixty fourbits can be read out all at once or written into all at once. The globalbuffer memory is addressable on 64-bit boundaries with an address wordthat is 23-bits wide.

In the exemplary memory map of FIG. 4, the global buffer memory 210includes data between a first beginning address B1 and first endingaddress El as one set of direct memory accessible data (referred to asDMAD 1). DMAD 1 for example represents data that has been received fromthe host port or the multichannel serial port or data that has beenwritten by one of the core processors 200A-200N. The exemplary memorymap of FIG. 4 also includes data between a second beginning address B2and second ending address E2 as a second set of direct memory accessibledata (referred to as DMAD 2). The exemplary memory map of FIG. 4 alsoillustrates the global buffer memory 210 as including data between athird beginning address B3 and a third ending address E3 as a third setof direct memory accessible data (referred to as DMAD 3).

Global buffer memory also includes a DMA descriptor table 401. The DMAdescriptor table 401 has one or more DMA descriptive lists 402A-402N ofinformation which refer to the direct memory accessible data stored inthe global buffer memory 210. One or more DMA descriptive list are usedby each of the distributed DMA controllers when DMA transferringinformation with the global buffer memory 210. Each of the DMAdescriptive lists 402A-402N include starting pointers to data, code,status or other information in the global buffer memory. One or more DMAdescriptive lists 402A-402N within the DMA descriptive table 401 pointto the direct memory accessible data of DMAD 1, DMAD 2 and DMAD 3. Afterthe direct memory accessible data is no longer valid or usable, the DMAdescriptive lists are invalidated or cleared.

In FIG. 4, the DMA descriptor table 401 includes an exemplary DMAdescriptive list 402A stored within the global buffer memory 210 toprocess a give channel. A DMA descriptive list 402N may have alreadybeen used by the serial DMA controller or host DMA controller to DMAinformation from their respective ports into the global buffer memory.The same DMA descriptive list can be used to DMA information from theglobal buffer memory into the local memory, the data memory and programmemory, of one or more of the core processors 200A-200N. In which case,the DMA descriptive list may include a link to DMA descriptive list402N.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary DMA descriptive list 402A to process achannel. The exemplary DMA descriptive list 402A includes a transmitprogram pointer 410, a sample type description 412, state informationpointer 414, miscellaneous control pointer 416, a beginning data memorypointer 418, and a linked list pointer 420. The transmit program pointer410 points to a starting address for code that is to be used to processthe given channel. The sample type description 412 describes the type ofdata samples on the serial port whether they are 4-bit, 8-bit, 16-bitand whether or not they are compressed and if so what type ofcompression is being used. The state information pointer points to thedata in memory, if any, of the last state of computations of datasamples for the channel which may be used in the current computation.The miscellaneous control pointer 416 points to miscellaneous controlinformation regarding the data samples, the code, state information orother information that is to be direct memory accessed into or out ofthe global buffer memory 210. The beginning memory location 418 providesthe beginning address of the data to be direct memory accessed pointingto the first word or block of data such as B1, B2 or B3 of the exemplarymemory map. Alternatively, the linked list pointer 420 can point 422 toanother DMA descriptive list 420N for the data or other information thatneeds to be directly memory accessed from or to the global buffermemory. In this manner DMA descriptor lists can be chained together.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a block diagram of the serial DMA controller207 is illustrated. The serial DMA controller 207 includes a receiveFIFO buffer 502, a transmit FIFO buffer 504, a channel register 505, adata counter 506, a status/control register 507, control logic 508, anda TDM remapper memory 510. The data transmitted and received over theserial port may be compressed by a compression algorithm. In the case ofthe data being voice data, the compression algorithm may be A-lawcompression or Mu-law compression. The voice data in its non-compressedform is PCM or pulse-code modulated data. Additionally, the data is timedivision multiplexed on the serial data stream into time slots for eachcommunication channel. Because the distributed DMA of the presentinvention is particularly suited to support blocks of data for givenchannels, the serial port provides interleaving and deinterleaving ofdata from the serial data stream for each channel.

The serial DMA controller 207 couples to the system bus 200 through thebus arbitrator 201A to receive and transmit parallel bits of data. Theserial DMA controller 207 couples to the telephone network to receiveand transmit a serial data stream. The serial DMA controller 207 alsoincludes DMA control signals to request and control the direct memoryaccess through the system bus 200. These DMA control signals include DMArequest (DMA REQ), DMA acknowledge (DMA ACK), interrupt request (INT),read/write strobe signal (R/W) which couple through the bus arbitrator201A onto the control lines of the system bus 200. The DMA controlsignals are coupled to the control logic block 508. The control logicblock 508 generates the DMA REQ, the INT, and the R/W strobe signals andreceives the DMA ACK signal. The parallel data port of the serial datacontroller 207 couples to the bus arbitrator 201A. The receive FIFObuffer 502, the transmit FIFO buffer 504, the channel register, the datacounter 506 and the status/control register 507 couple through theparallel data port of the serial DMA controller 207 to the busarbitrator 201A. The receive FIFO buffer 502 and the transmit FIFObuffer 504 in one embodiment are one to two entries (64-bit) deep andprovide burst writes and reads with the TDM remapper memory 5210 and theglobal buffer memory 210. The TDM remapper memory 510 of the serial DMAcontroller 207 couples through the multi-channel serial data port to thetelephone network to transmit and receive a serial data stream thereon.

The TDM remapper memory 510 provides a serial to parallel conversionwhen receiving a serial data stream from the telephone network. The TDMremapper memory 510 provides a parallel to serial conversion whentransmitting a serial data stream onto the telephone network. The TDMremapper memory appropriately interleaves data into time slots of theserial data stream for transmission. The TDM remapper memoryappropriately deinterleaves data from time slots of the serial datastream to received data. The TDM remapper memory 510 also remaps theappropriate data into memory locations so that multiple serialcommunication channels are supported. That is upon receiving serialdata, the serial data stream is read into the TDM remapper memory bydeinterleaving data from time slots into appropriate memory locations sothat an entire frame of data for a given channel is ready for DMA intothe global buffer memory. For transmitting serial data, an entire frameof data is stored into the TDM remapper memory so that it can be readout blocks at a time and interleaved into appropriate time slots for agiven channel.

The status/control register 507 of the serial DMA controller providesstatus information regarding the serial port 206 and the serial DMAcontroller when read. The status/control register 507 maintains a numberof flags including a receive FIFO buffer full flag and a transmit FIFObuffer full flag. When the buffer full flag is set, no further data canbe stored in the respective buffer until the flag is cleared. Thechannel register 505 is set to a particular channel number when you wantspecific status regarding that channel. If a channel number is notselected by the channel register, general status is provided when thestatus/control register 507 is read. When writing to the status/controlregister 507, the control of the serial DMA controller 207 and theserial port 206 can be established or updated. The data counter 506counts the byte count in a DMA transfer to determine when a transfer iscompleted. The count value of the data counter 506 also facilitatesgeneration of addresses for the global buffer memory 210.

Referring now to FIGS. 6A and 6B, the functionality of the TDM remappingmemory 510 is illustrated. FIG. 6A illustrates an exemplary serial datastream on the serial port of the multi-channel serial port 207. Theserial data stream on the serial port is time division multiplexed(TDM). Communication channels (CH1 through CHN) are assigned designatedtime slots between frame synchronization pulses (FS) over Frame 1through Frame M. Each channel time slot in one embodiment is one DSOdata byte of eight bits of data. In an alternate embodiment, eachchannel time slot is 16 bits of data. The present invention can beadapted to alternate bits of data per time slot per channel.

FIG. 6B illustrates an exemplary remapping of frames of data into dataof the respective channels 1 through N or vice versa. The channel 1 dataover Frames 1 through M is organized together. The channel 2 data overframes 1 through M is organized together and so on and so forth throughchannel N. For N communication channels M frames are stored into the TDMremapper memory. During reception, as soon as N DSO words of channel 1data is stored into the TDM remapper, one frame of channel 1 data can bewritten via DMA to the global buffer memory 210. The TDM remapper memorymaps the DSO words which are received into frames of data for eachchannel. During transmission, as soon as one frame of data is storedinto the TDM remapper memory for each of N channels, one frame of serialTDM data can be transmitted to the telephone network. The TDM remappermemory maps the frame of data for the N channels into the DSO words foreach channel.

Referring now to FIG. 7, the block diagram of the core DMA controller203 is illustrated. The core DMA controller 203 is one instance of theone or more core DMA controllers 203A-203N. The core DMA controller 203includes a receive FIFO buffer 702, a transmit FIFO buffer 704, astatus/control register 705, a data counter 706, a queueregister/counter 707, control logic 708, a decoder 711, a pair ofmultiplexers 712-713, and an encoder 714. Control logic 708 has DMAcontrol signals (DMA REQ PROC., DMA ACK PROC., INT PROC., and R/W PROC.)which couple on the processor side to the data memory 302 and programmemory 304 for one connection and DMA control signals (DMA REQ BUS, DMAACK BUS, INT BUS, and R/W BUS) on a bus side which couple through thesystem bus to the global buffer memory 210 for a second connection. Thereceive FIFO buffer 702, transmit FIFO buffer 704, status/controlregister 705, data counter 706, queue register/counter 707, decoder 711,and encoder 714 of the core DMA controller 203 couple on one side to thedata memory 302 and program memory 304 of a core processor 200. Thereceive FIFO buffer 702, transmit FIFO buffer 704, status/controlregister 705, data counter 706, and queue register/counter 707 of thecore DMA controller 203 couple to the global memory 210 through the oneor more bus arbitrators 201A-201N and the system bus 200 on the busside. The receive FIFO buffer 702 and the transmit FIFO buffer 704 inone embodiment are sixty-four bytes deep and provide burst writes andreads with the global buffer memory and the core processor.

Recall that in one embodiment of the present invention, the width ofwords of data stored into either channel of the data memory 302 is sixtyfour bits wide while the width of words of program code stored into theeither channel of the program memory 304 is forty bits wide. In whichcase, the core DMA controller 203 converts 64 bits of program codereceived from the global buffer memory 210 into forty bit word widths.Program code having a width of 64 bits is stored into eight 8-bit bytesinto the receive FIFO. The program code is read from the receive FIFO bya processor such that five 8-bit bytes (i.e. 40 bits) of code are readout at a time and into the program memory 304. Alternatively, this canbe viewed as five 64-bit words (320 bits) being stored into the receiveFIFO and eight 40 bit words (320 bits) being read out of the receiveFIFO.

Additionally, the core DMA controller can decompress data received fromthe global buffer memory before writing it into the data memory 304 andcan compresses data read from the data memory 304 prior to writing itinto the global buffer memory 210. The multiplexer 712 selects whetherinformation from the receive FIFO buffer 702 is coupled directly throughto the data memory and program memory or one of two decoded outputs fromthe decoder 711 decoding the information is coupled through. Multiplexer712 also allows information from the data counter 706, thestatus/control register 705 and the queue register/counter 707 to becoupled to the processor or the data memory and program memory.Multiplexer 713 selects whether information from the data memory, theprogram memory or the DSP is coupled directly through to the transmitFIFO buffer 702 or if one or two encoded outputs from the encoder 714encoding the information is coupled through. In one embodiment, thecompressed format can be either A-law or Mu-law non-linear compressedformats while the decompressed format is linear or pulse code modulateddata. The compression and decompression is selected by setting bits inthe status/control register 705 in response to a DMA descriptor list.

By encoding (compressing) and decoding (decompressing) data within thecore DMA controller, the data from the serial port can remain compressedfrom the serial port over the system bus into the global buffer memoryand then into the core DMA controller through the system bus. Keepingthe data compressed within the SOC 100 for as long as possible providesincreased bandwidth for data transfer.

The status/control register 705 of the core DMA controller providesstatus information regarding the respective core processor 200 and thecore DMA controller when read. The status/control register 705 maintainsa number of flags including a receive FIFO buffer full flag and atransmit FIFO buffer full flag. When the buffer full flag is set, nofurther data can be stored in the respective buffer until the flag iscleared. When writing to the status/control register 705, the control ofthe core DMA controller 203 can be established or updated. The datacounter 706 counts the byte count in a DMA transfer to determine when atransfer is completed. The count value of the data counter 706 alsofacilitates generation of addresses for the global buffer memory 210.

In the DMA of data between global buffer memory and data memory orprogram memory of a core processor, each of the core DMA controllersuses the same DMA descriptor list which was used to DMA the data fromhost port or serial port into the global buffer memory. An additionalDMA descriptor list is unnecessary.

Referring now to FIG. 8, the host port 214 is illustrated including thehost DMA controller 215. The host DMA controller 215 includes a receiveFIFO buffer 802, a transmit FIFO buffer 804, a status/control register805, a data counter 806, a queue register/counter 807, control logic 808providing flow control, and I/O port registers. The control logic 808includes logic to provide data flow control and to provide DMA controlstructures. The DMA control structures serve as queue handles. Thestatus/control register 807 provide access to control and statusinformation to an external host and status notification and queuecounter information to the internal microcontroller 223. The receiveFIFO buffer 802 and the transmit FIFO buffer 804 in one embodiment aresixty-four bytes deep. The receive FIFO buffer 802 and the transmit FIFObuffer 804 provide burst writes and reads between a host processor andthe SOC 100. The host port 214 illustrated in FIG. 8 further includesthe I/O port registers 810 to selectively interface to a host processor.The control logic 808 of the DMA controller 215 has DMA control signals(DMA REQ BUS, DMA ACK BUS, INT BUS, and R/W BUS) on the bus side whichcouple to the global buffer memory 210 through the arbitrator 201 andsystem bus 200. Control logic 808 has DMA control signals (DMA REQ HOST,DMA ACK HOST, INT HOST, and R/W HOST) on the host side which couple tothe host. The receive FIFO 802, the transmit FIFO 804, the data counter806, status/control register 805, and queue register/counter 807 arecoupled on one side to the bus arbitrator 201. The receive FIFO 802, thetransmit FIFO 804, and the data counter 806 are coupled on an oppositeside to the I/O buffer 810. In this manner, parallel data of packetpayloads can flow between the host and the system bus 200 into and outof the global buffer memory 210.

The I/O port registers 810 of the host port 214 provides a point for ahost processor to write data and to read data.

The status/control register 805 of the host DMA controller 215 providesstatus information regarding the host port 214 and the host DMAcontroller 215 when read. The status/control register 805 maintains anumber of flags including a receive FIFO buffer full flag and a transmitFIFO buffer full flag. When the buffer full flag is set, no further datacan be stored in the respective buffer until the flag is cleared. Whenwriting to the status/control register 805, the control of the host MDAcontroller 215 and the host port 214 can be established or updated. Thedata counter 806 counts the byte count in a DMA transfer to determinewhen a transfer is completed. The count value of the data counter 806also facilitates generation of addresses for the global buffer memory210.

The preferred embodiments of the present invention are thus described.As those of ordinary skill will recognize, the present invention hasmany advantages. One advantage of the present invention is that thebandwidth to the global buffer memory is increased due to the widesystem bus, the remapping of serial data, and compression/decompressionof data on the fly. Another advantage of the present invention is thatarbitration is simplified by using common standards for bus arbitrationand is improved due to the distribution of direct memory accesscontrollers.

While the present invention has been described in a particularembodiment of a voice over packet system on a chip, it is equallyapplicable to other systems on chips. Additionally, the presentinvention may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware or acombination thereof and utilized in systems, subsystems, components orsub-components thereof. When implemented in software, the elements ofthe present invention are essentially the code segments to perform thenecessary tasks. The program or code segments can be stored in aprocessor readable medium or transmitted by a computer data signalembodied in a carrier wave over a transmission medium or communicationlink. The “processor readable medium” may include any medium that canstore or transfer information. Examples of the processor readable mediuminclude an electronic circuit, a semiconductor memory device, a ROM, aflash memory, an erasable ROM (EROM), a floppy diskette, a CD-ROM, anoptical disk, a hard disk, a fiber optic medium, a radio frequency (RF)link, etc. The computer data signal may include any signal that canpropagate over a transmission medium such as electronic networkchannels, optical fibers, air, electromagnetic, RF links, etc. The codesegments may be downloaded via computer networks such as the Internet,Intranet, etc. In any case, the present invention should not beconstrued as limited by such embodiments, but rather construed accordingto the claims that follow below.

1. A system on a chip comprising: a buffer memory; a system bus coupledto the buffer memory; a plurality of bus arbitrators coupled to thesystem bus; and a plurality of functional modules coupled to theplurality of bus arbitrators, each of the plurality of functionalmodules including a DMA controller to couple to a bus arbitrator of theplurality of bus arbitrators, the DMA controller to provide directmemory access to the buffer memory.
 2. The system on a chip of claim 1,wherein the plurality of bus arbitrators negotiate access to the systembus by the plurality of functional modules.
 3. The system on a chip ofclaim 1 further comprising: a microcontroller coupled to the system bus.4. The system on a chip of claim 1, wherein, the system on a chip is avoice over packet system on a chip; and the plurality of functionalmodules includes one or more signal processors to process data of aplurality of communication channels, the one or more signal processorsto directly memory access the buffer memory to read data for processingand to write data after processing, a host port to couple to a packetnetwork and transceive packet payloads with the packet network and todirectly memory access the buffer memory to read data from and writedata into the buffer memory, and a multichannel serial port to couple toa telephone network and transceive data with the telephone network andto directly memory access the buffer memory to read data from and writedata into the buffer memory.
 5. A method of distributed direct memoryaccess to a global buffer memory, the method comprising: providing oneor more functional units each having a direct memory access controller;requesting access to a system bus by the one or more functional units todirectly memory access the global buffer memory; arbitrating access tothe system bus by the one or more functional units; gaining access tothe system bus by one of the one or more functional units; andestablishing a direct memory access connection by the one of the one ormore functional units with the global buffer memory and reading datafrom or writing data into memory locations in the global buffer memory.6. The method of claim 5, further comprising remapping a serial datastream into a parallel data stream prior to directly memory accessingthe global buffer memory by one of the one or more functional units. 7.The method of claim 5, further comprising remapping a parallel datastream into a serial data stream after directly memory accessing theglobal buffer memory by one of the one or more functional units.
 8. Themethod of claim 5, wherein the steps are performed in a system on achip.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the system on a chip is a voiceover packet system interfacing to a packet network on one end and atelephone network on an opposite end.
 10. A distributed direct memoryaccess control system comprising: a memory; a plurality of direct memoryaccess controllers distributed amongst functional blocks of a system,the plurality of direct memory access controllers to control directmemory access of the functional blocks of the system to the memory. 11.The distributed direct memory access control system of claim 10, furthercomprising a system bus coupled between the memory and the plurality ofdirect memory access controllers, the system bus including a data busover which data can flow between the memory and the functional blocks ofthe system.
 12. The distributed direct memory access control system ofclaim 11, wherein, the system bus further includes DMA control lines torequest direct memory access to the memory and control the direct memorydata flow with the memory.
 13. The distributed direct memory accesscontrol system of claim 10, wherein the memory is a direct accessiblememory and includes a direct memory access controller.
 14. Thedistributed direct memory access control system of claim 13, wherein thedirect memory access controller of the memory includes a receive firstin first out (FIFO) buffer to store receive data, a transmit first infirst out (FIFO) buffer to store transmit data, a data counter to counta number of data units that were transmitted to the memory and receivedfrom the memory by direct memory access, and control logic coupled tothe receive FIFO buffer, the transmit FIFO buffer, and the data counterto control the transmission and reception of data by direct memoryaccess.
 15. The distributed direct memory access control system of claim10, wherein the plurality of direct memory access controllers include areceive first in first out (FIFO) buffer to store receive data, atransmit first in first out (FIFO) buffer to store transmit data, a datacounter to count a number of data units that were transmitted to thememory and received from the memory by direct memory access, and controllogic coupled to the receive FIFO buffer, the transmit FIFO buffer, andthe data counter to control the transmission and reception of data bydirect memory access.
 16. The distributed direct memory access controlsystem of claim 15, wherein one of the plurality of direct memory accesscontrollers further includes a remapper memory to remap parallel datainto serial data and serial data into parallel data.
 17. A direct memoryaccess descriptor table to control direct memory access of informationin a memory, the direct memory access descriptor table comprising: oneor more direct memory access descriptor lists stored in the memory, eachof the one or more direct memory access descriptor lists including apointer to point to a starting address in the memory from which todirectly memory access data from or to the memory.
 18. The direct memoryaccess descriptor table of claim 17, wherein the one of the directmemory access descriptor lists further includes information regardingthe type of data to be directly memory accessed.
 19. The direct memoryaccess descriptor table of claim 17, wherein the one of the directmemory access descriptor lists further includes a pointer to point to astarting address in the memory from which to directly memory accessprior state information from or to the memory.
 20. The direct memoryaccess descriptor table of claim 17, wherein the one of the directmemory access descriptor lists further includes a pointer to point to astarting address in the memory from which to directly memory accessprogram code from or to the memory.